Darkest Hour
by lunarocks14
Summary: <html><head></head>The night one Founder left Hogwarts forever.</html>


**Author's Note: Fun fact! This fanfic was written on holiday in France.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognise.**

Rowena Ravenclaw stepped out into the bright moonlight and gazed out over the Hogwarts grounds. She twisted the engagement ring Godric had given her round her fourth finger, and smiled faintly to herself.

She frowned slightly as she heard a twig snap; staring into the shadows of the Forest, she saw movement. "Helga?" She called, hesitantly, as she walked slowly towards the trees. She knew her fiancé was in bed, asleep.

Helga, standing amongst a thicket of trees, turned and saw her, and was about to call back, when Salazar stepped out of the shadows and smirked at Rowena.

Rowena smiled back at him, relaxing. "Oh, it's you, Salazar. I wondered..." She glanced around, into the dark wood that was not lit by the moon's glow. "Well... there are creatures in the Forest." She finished, with a friendly smile.

"Rowena... I'm leaving." Salazar told her.

Stepping forward, she said in astonishment: "Leaving? But Salazar–"

He held up a hand to stop her from continuing. "Rowena, I've decided. I'm leaving. Godric and I..." He sighed, looking up at Gryffindor Tower. "I cannot stay. I have to leave. But..." he hesitated, looking at her. "Rowena... I want you to come with me." His eyes held her fast, even as she stepped back.

"Salazar... you know I can't."

Helga, still listening in the shadows, bit her lip as she was torn between joy that her friend was staying, and dismay that Godric would still be engaged. For, since she had met him, she had loved him with all her heart.

She leant closer as she heard Salazar speaking. "Rowena... please. You know I..."

Rowena shook her head slowly. "Why ask me? Why not another of our friends?"

"I've been in love with you since I met you, Rowena!" He replied, in a voice so low Helga had to strain to catch it.

Rowena's eyes widened with shock. Salazar, on an impulse, leant forward and kissed her. She broke the kiss, drawing back and bending her head. "Salazar... is that why you always placed your trust in me?"

His expression turned mocking. "Why would I place my trust in Godric, with all his 'bravery' and 'chivalry'?" He asked, making quotation marks with his fingers. Then he snorted. "Or _Helga_, always so _sweet_. "I'll take the rest"," he said in a mock imitation of Helga's voice.

Helga drew in a deep breath, stung.

Salazar pulled his wand out, turning and stepping towards the shadows with narrowed eyes. "Who's there?" He called, in a voice of sharpened steel.

"Salazar..." Rowena whispered, eyes searching the darkness.

"_Lumos_." Salazar's light showed Helga, hiding in the shadows.

She stepped forward, into the light. "Salazar? How could you?" She asked, expression full of hurt and accusation.

"Didn't you know? Eavesdroppers never hear good of themselves!" He stepped forward, raising his wand.

Rowena stepped forward swiftly, taking position at Helga's side. "Salazar, I think you should leave." She said, steadily and calmly.

His eyes narrowed in scorn and anger. "Fine! But beware... I have left a creature, a monster to be feared, in a secret chamber. Only my Heir will be able to open it... and then, at last, my noble work shall be completed!" He cried, eyes flashing.

Rowena's eyes darkened and her voice filled with power – Seer's power. "But your Heir will make one mistake... he will mark a child, give him his own powers, and it is by this child's hand that the Heir of Slytherin shall be vanquished!" She proclaimed.

Salazar smirked. "Perhaps. We shall see, Rowena. May the best wizard win!" He bowed to her mockingly, then Disapparated.

Rowena turned to Helga, slightly shaken. "Only one of the last three Founders shall remember this night," she said in a low voice. "_Obliviate_."

Helga blinked at her, memory of the night gone. "Oh, Rowena, I could not sleep. I apologise if I disturbed you." With these words, she left for her room.

Rowena watched her go. She touched her diadem. "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure..." she whispered. "And yet, the greatest treasure of all... is love." The words that Rowena Ravenclaw spoke vanished into the air, along with the occurrences of that moonlit night.

Far above her, in a tower, Godric Gryffindor slept, unaware of the life-changing events that had taken place below him.

And so it would be, Rowena Ravenclaw silently vowed. As she departed, a slim figure emerged from deeper shadows, frowning slightly as they took in what they had seen.

Helena Ravenclaw had seen everything. From then on, the legend started; the legend of the Chamber, and the monster, and the Boy Who Lived.

**Author's Note: Reviews are very welcome.  
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